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Saturday, December 15, 2012

12 Days of Recycled Christmas Ornaments (DIY) #10 ~ Frog Prince

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Ten Lords A-Leaping...

The Frog Prince is kind of like a lord, right? He wears a crown and definitely leaps around. Patrick came up with the idea for this charming recycled ornament. Its made with a plastic container from the quarter machine, a drinking straw, and a frog toy.

You will need:

small plastic frog toy

clear plastic container from the quarter machine

drinking straw

gold acrylic paint

fabric scraps

cardboard

string of beads

red embroidery thread

larger bead

glue gun

If you don't have a small frog toy on hand for this ornament, check the Goodwill or dollar store.

I am re-recycling this little guy by pulling him off a wedding favor jar that I made in the summer.

For the tiny crown, carefully cut four notches in the end of a drinking straw.

Snip the miniature crown off the straw and use hot glue to attach it to the frog's head. Be patient, you may need to make several crowns before you're satisfied. Gently bend the crown's points outward.

Coat your frog prince in a layer (or two, or even three) of gold acrylic paint.

While the paint coated frog is drying, take apart the plastic container. The larger section will become a dome. Trace the rim on your cardboard and cut out a circle to use as the base. Cover both sides with fabric.

Glue the frog to the center of your circle and attach the dome with hot glue.

Now its time to conceal the place where your base and dome meet. Originally, I was planning to use gold Mardi Gras beads, but they are too big. I used a smaller string of pearls instead. Carefully glue them in place.

To hang the ornament, on your Christmas tree, glue a bead to the top of the dome and pull the embroidery thread through and make a loop.